News in end use

The University of Michigan today (Friday 2-11-22) released its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) for February. The Index of Consumer Sentiment declined to a reading of 61.7 in February, down from 67.2 in January. The decline is a month-over-month decrease of -8.2% and down -19.7% year-over-year (76.8 in February 2021).

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Thursday (2-10-22) that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6% in January on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. Over the past 12-months, the all-item index has increased 7.5% before seasonal adjustment—the largest 12-month increase since the period ending February 1982.

Freddie Mac has released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) for the week ending February 10, 2022. The PMMS reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.69% with an average 0.8 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.55%. A year ago, at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.73%.

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 223,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, February 5, 2022. This is a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 253,250.

The Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) released today (2-10-22) the results of their National Delinquency Survey (NDS) for Q4 2021. According to the NDS, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties decreased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.65% of all loans outstanding at the end of December.

According to realtor.com®’s monthly housing report released on Tuesday (2-8-22), the typical U.S. home sold faster in January 2022 than in any other January on record. The report notes that the housing market remains “unseasonably hot” over the typically slower winter months. In January, the typical U.S. home spent 61 days on the market before being sold.

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending February 4, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased -8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined -6.0% compared with the previous week.

On Monday (2-7-22), the Federal Reserve released their G.19 report for 2021. According to the report, with further analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders, in 2021, consumer credit increased 5.9%, with revolving and nonrevolving credit increasing 6.6% and 5.7%, respectively. During Q4, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.6%.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) was released today (2-8-22) and reports that 54.2% of new and existing homes sold between October 1 and December 31, 2021 were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $79,900. This is down from the Q3 2021 reading of 56.6%.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), one of the largest small business associations in the U.S., reported today (2-08-22) that their NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased slightly in January to 97.1, down -1.8 points from December. For the month of January, of the ten components that make up the Index, one improved, while seven declined and two were unchanged.